Utah has been ranked as one of the worst states for women. Troubling stats that one new initiative is trying to fight.
A Bolder Way Forward is a new state movement aimed to lift girls and women in the state.
Dr. Susan Madsen, Founding Director of the Utah Women and Leadership Project at Utah State University said, “National and statewide studies continue to show that girls and women in the state of Utah are not thriving in some of the critical areas – many of them."
Madsen said areas like domestic violence, sexual assault and women’s equality- Utah typically ranks as one of the worst.
“We need to do things differently. We need to really help impact Utah girls and women and we need to be more bold in doing that,” she said.
Helping launch the movement called “A Bolder Way Forward” this summer – an initiative that aims to make the whole greater than the sum of its parts, with individuals and statewide organizations joining together along with partners like the Cambia Health Foundation – the charitable arm of Regence BlueCross BlueShield.
Madsen said, “Really what A Bolder Way Forward is – we’re a vehicle of change for women and girls. And we really conceptualize a vehicle moving up a paved road with the metaphor of a wheel and it has 18 focus areas that fall into 5 broader categories.”
Addressing issues like sexism, identity, culture and male allyship.
“Look at the data. We have to get our violence rates down. We have to get men and women, boys and girls in places where we can all thrive,” said Madsen.
You can learn more at a bolderwayforward.org. There you can also learn more about their upcoming fall women’s leadership forum on September 20th.
“We have many groups engaged. We want companies to come on, we want non-profits and schools and families and neighborhoods to come on. I love living here, yet there are things we need to differently to make sure everybody thrives,” said Madsen.